Offroad Teardrop - SawTooth XL

[Snowrydr01]

first off, great work man.

I was talking to my fiancee the other day and looking at your thread and an interesting question came up, How do you plan on finishing those interior walls over the insulation? Are you just going to use thin plywood for the traditional look, or something more modern to match the style of the trailer. Along those same lines, what are your plans for the exterior? With such a good looking shape i would hate to see it tarnished with just paint over wood, it has that weird textured look to it.

We are looking forward to hearing your finishing plans

 

[Rezarf <><]

YOu should install mirrored acrylic panels...

It would look HUGE!

 

[stomperxj]

first off, great work man.

I was talking to my fiancee the other day and looking at your thread and an interesting question came up, How do you plan on finishing those interior walls over the insulation? Are you just going to use thin plywood for the traditional look, or something more modern to match the style of the trailer. Along those same lines, what are your plans for the exterior? With such a good looking shape i would hate to see it tarnished with just paint over wood, it has that weird textured look to it.

We are looking forward to hearing your finishing plans

Thanks Snow The inside and outside both will be skinned with 1/4" plywood. And yes i am going to tarnish all of it inside and out with white paint and maybe some accent color of some kind... to each his own. I'm not a big fan of the varnished natural wood look...

YOu should install mirrored acrylic panels...

It would look HUGE!

I think mirrors all over would prove to be pretty sweet if I end up getting a girlfriend any time soon


I'm hopefully going to have some updates soon. I have been working a little here and there on it but its still kinda cold around these parts plus my company closed in December so i have been getting "government assistance" for almost 2 months. I'm starting to squeak when i walk....

Updates in a couple weeks probably.... Thanks for lookin

 

[Snowrydr01]

Thanks Snow The inside and outside both will be skinned with 1/4" plywood. And yes i am going to tarnish all of it inside and out with white paint and maybe some accent color of some kind... to each his own. I'm not a big fan of the varnished natural wood look...

I guess i shouldve explained better. I actually preffer the painted look over the natural wood myself also. I meant your plans on how to paint it so you dont get that flat, texturey paint finish that commonly occures when trying to paint wood. Any plans to try to epoxy seal it first then sand it for a smoother less pourous surface to paint over?

 

[stomperxj]

I guess i shouldve explained better. I actually preffer the painted look over the natural wood myself also. I meant your plans on how to paint it so you dont get that flat, texturey paint finish that commonly occures when trying to paint wood. Any plans to try to epoxy seal it first then sand it for a smoother less pourous surface to paint over?

Hey no problem... I am going to coat the entire outside with CPES, then sand smooth, then use a spray gun for the paint so hopefully it will have a nice smooth and perhaps even slightly glossy finish to it... we'll see though. NO rollers or paintbrushes will be used...

 

[SparkysTJ]

Wow!

Your build is awesome! Your design is exactly what I have been looking for. I am planning to start my build after Valentines day. If you have any drawings with the dimensions that you don't mind sharing I sure could use some! Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[stomperxj]

Your build is awesome! Your design is exactly what I have been looking for. I am planning to start my build after Valentines day. If you have any drawings with the dimensions that you don't mind sharing I sure could use some! Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks! The sides were cut from a single sheet of 4x8 ply, the body is 62" wide, 48" between fender wells....

I'm going to finish my trailer before i start handing out drawings and dimensions. Thats half of the fun of building a trailer is designing it and making it your own. Grab a copy of google sketchup and start playin with some shapes...

 

[stomperxj]

Not much is going on due to the cold weather. I have made a little more progress on the hatch framing. I cut one rib out of some good 3/4" birch ply and then rouch cut a bunch more out of the same birch. I just used an edge router bit and clamped them down to the master rib one at a time:

I used some good sticks of red oak for the main cross frame pieces. I'm just going to use a plain ol piano hinge on this one...

Slowly but surely

 

[1speed]

Not much is going on due to the cold weather. I have made a little more progress on the hatch framing. I cut one rib out of some good 3/4" birch ply and then rouch cut a bunch more out of the same birch. I just used an edge router bit and clamped them down to the master rib one at a time:



I used some good sticks of red oak for the main cross frame pieces. I'm just going to use a plain ol piano hinge on this one...

Slowly but surely

How do you plan to seal around the piano hinge? When I first built mine I used a piano hinge. I thought I had it sealed well but moisture wicked in along the srews some how and delaminated my first hatch lid and generator hatch lid. I had to rebuild the lids and used some external stainless steel marine hinges.

 

[stomperxj]

How do you plan to seal around the piano hinge?

Hey Jim-
Thats good to know about what happened with yours. I was planning on using either butyl tape or some sort of silicone to seal all the screws on the body and the hatch lid. Did you seal all your wood with CPES? I'm planning on getting everything mocked and set and then coating with CPES. hopefully that will help too...

Thanks Jim

 

[stomperxj]

We had a couple warm days here so i got a battery box built. 1/2"x1/2"x1/16" angle for the seal surface. I'm working on the lid fastening next. Glued and stapled 3/4" ACX.

I'm going to run 2 of these batteries:

Interstate Batteries 34AH

The box will hang right behind the axle and the lid will be in the floor. I'm thinking i'll run an onboard battery tender too.

More later-

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: I would never build a trailer, but

Man, do you do quality work !!!

:victory::safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO

 

[stomperxj]

Thanks Jimbo

Another warm day yesterday so I got after the battery box again. Temp mounted it and cut the hole in the floor. Cutting that hole was a little nerve racking... Cant go back if you screw that one up ...

Next is the lid and some brackets to bolt the lid down to...

More soon

 

[scarydriver]

Eagerly awaiting updates! :drool:

And I love the battery box - great work!

 

[stomperxj]

Eagerly awaiting updates! :drool:And I love the battery box - great work!

Thanks scarydriver

It got up to almost 55* today so i got out in the shop for a little bit. I trimmed the lower edge of the sides, repainted the frame sides and i have been working on the hatch latch some too. I found a trunk release cable out of some car at the local pick and pull and I got the handle off of eBay. I also got the lid brackets done for the battery box.

More updates soon!